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Allianz FL D1: Tyrone secure valuable victory

Tyrone's Cormac Quinn nets a goal at St Tiernach's Park. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

Tyrone's Cormac Quinn nets a goal at St Tiernach's Park. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

Allianz National Football League Division One

Tyrone 2-15 Monaghan 0-13

By Colm Shalvey at St Tiernach's Park

Tyrone took another step towards securing Division One status in the Allianz NFL with an eight-point win over 13-man Monaghan in Clones.

First-half goals by Peter Harte (from a penalty) and Cormac Quinn put Tyrone in the driving seat and any hopes Monaghan had of catching their neighbours disintegrated within ten minutes of the restart as they had Jack McCarron and Killian Lavelle sent off.

Tyrone comfortably closed the game out from there as they backed up their fifth-round win over Kerry and moved clear of Ulster rivals Monaghan and Donegal in the battle for safety. Monaghan’s only score from play arrived early on through full-back Kieran Duffy, while Tyrone had a total ten players on target.

Conn Kilpatrick and Darren McCurry got Tyrone off to a bright start and although Monaghan hit back through Kieran Duffy and a hat-trick of frees by Mícheál Bannigan, Peter Harte converted a penalty won by Brian Kennedy to give the visitors a foothold.

Monaghan responded with a Rory Beggan ’45, but Tyrone hit the net for a second time when some Darragh Canavan magic unlocked the home defence to tee up Cormac Quinn to fire home.

Forward marks by Dessie Ward and Shane Carey helped Monaghan close the gap to two, but a fine point from Canavan had Tyrone 2-5 to 0-8 up at half-time. Jack McCarron, who had endured a frustrating afternoon after returning from a hamstring strain, saw his game cut short just into the second half when he was black-carded, having been booked just before the first half ended, with Tyrone swiftly stretching their lead via Frank Burns and Kilpatrick.

Monaghan’s hill became much steeper on 45 minutes when Killian Lavelle was dismissed after an off-the-ball incident, just as a fisted point from Canavan moved Tyrone six clear.

The hosts continued to rely on frees for their scores, with Conor McManus kicking four after his introduction and Karl Gallagher converting their third advanced mark, while at the other end, McCurry added three to his tally in the final quarter.

Niall Morgan, Mattie Donnelly and subs Richard Donnelly and Niall Devlin also got in on the act as Tyrone eased to a win that sets them up perfectly for another derby against Armagh next Sunday. Meanwhile, Monaghan, who will travel to Omagh for the first round of the Ulster SFC next month, need to win away to Mayo.

Scorers for Tyrone: Peter Harte 1-1 (1-0 pen), Darren McCurry 0-4 (2fs), Darragh Canavan 0-3, Cormac Quinn 1-0, Conn Kilpatrick 0-2 (1m), Niall Morgan 0-1 (’45), Richard Donnelly 0-1, Niall Devlin 0-1, Mattie Donnelly 0-1, Frank Burns 0-1.

Scorers for Monaghan: Conor McManus 0-4 (4fs), Mícheál Bannigan 0-4 (4fs) Karl Gallagher 0-1 (m), Rory Beggan 0-1 (’45), Dessie Ward 0-1 (m), Kieran Duffy 0-1, Shane Carey 0-1 (m).

Monaghan: Rory Beggan; Kieran Duffy, Darren Hughes, Ryan O’Toole; Thomas McPhillips, Dessie Ward, Conor McCarthy; Francis Hughes, Killian Lavelle; Jason Irwin, Mícheál Bannigan, Karl Gallagher; Shane Carey; Jack McCarron, Seán Jones.

Subs: Stephen O’Hanlon for Irwin (32); Karl O’Connell for F Hughes, Conor McManus for Jones (both 40); Daragh McElearney for Ward (inj., 61); Aaron Mulligan for Carey (64).

Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Pádraig Hampsey, Cormac Quinn; Michael McKernan; Conor Meyler, Nathan McCarron, Peter Harte; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Frank Burns, Kieran McGeary, Joe Oguz; Darren McCurry, Mattie Donnelly, Darragh Canavan.

Subs: Niall Devlin for McCarron (40); Ruairí Canavan for McGeary (54); Liam Rafferty for Oguz, Richard Donnelly for Meyler (both 61); Michael O’Neill for D Canavan (72).

Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan).